I’ve Been Preparing for This Government My Whole Life

Posted September 2Sep 2

During COVID, I had a client who was a germaphobe. He said to me,

“I’ve been preparing for this my whole life.”

Being prepared made it much easier for him to comply with hand-washing and mask wearing. He actually had less anxiety then, not more.

I wish I could say the same about the rising fascism in the United States. Being prepared hasn’t made dealing with encroaching fascism any easier for me. The need to fight once again to maintain freedom and Democracy, something supposed to be embedded in our founding and Constitution, is cause for highly increased anxiety, not less. All my clients feel that anxiety now.

Like my client during the pandemic, I’ve prepared for the rise of fascism in the free world, nearly my entire life

As a young teen I read books about dystopian societies predicting the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the world.

It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, written in 1935, predicted precisely what is happening in the U.S. in 2025, including collusion by the Supreme Court. In the novel, Buzz Windrip becomes president by fomenting fear and promising a return to traditional values and patriotism. He also promises drastic economic and social reforms. Sound familiar?

He then stages a coup, using a paramilitary force to impose totalitarian rule. Our current budding totalitarian is using the National Guard and the Marines to take over policing cities.

Fictional President Windrip reduces the influence of Congress, then goes after women’s and minorities’ rights. In 2025, Executive Orders reduce or usurp the powers of Congress. Republicans propose legislation reducing the rights of minorities and women to vote. Check out the SAVE act.

I could go on, but I recommend you read the book.

Animal Farm by George Orwell, written in 1945, illustrated class wars, which we are experiencing again in 2025. While the animals in the allegory begin their rebellion in order to establish equality, freedom and happiness for all animals, one animal, the pig Napoleon, starts a dictatorship. Orwell said he began the novel as “a satirical tale against Stalin” after World War II.

After Napoleon establishes a dictatorship, there are purges of the animals who don’t believe as he does or who try to rebel. That seems very close to “disappearing” people in vans, and attempts to send in military to break up protests in 2025.

1984 by George Orwell, published in 1949, predicted pretty much everything currently happening here and in authoritarian countries everywhere. Devices that listen to us constantly, with conduits to a government intent on surveillance. Alexa, Siri, Google, owners of listening devices, are willing to turn over information they’ve gathered on us to the government. The NSA is listening in. “Security” cameras everywhere are seeing our every move. Detention and torture of civilians, turning neighbors against one another by scapegoating immigrants are becoming commonplace.

Brave new World by Aldous Huxley, written in 1931, has been listed by the American Library Association’s top 100 banned books list. It describes (predicts) a totalitarian world where classes are programmed to be happy with their place in society. Society is based on an assembly line model, created by Henry Ford, who is the deity in the book.

We’re seeing the conscious elimination of the middle class today, and the worship of not only Capitalism, but of the top 1% of capitalists themselves. If Huxley were to write the book today, Trump would be the Ford deity.

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine, L’Engle, exposed the horrors of living on a planet where one “mind” controlled everyone’s actions through brainwashing, and punishments for any deviation from the controlled norm. The first four books are obviously warning against fascism. This one is partly a warning about accepting being controlled. And about the power of love.

In A Wrinkle In Time, love is the only thing that can penetrate brainwashing. As the protagonist, Meg’s love for her brother and father free them from mind-control and imprisonment. Before she can free them, Meg makes the Hero’s Journey through dimensions and planets. While she ultimately faces the darkness alone, she encounters those who encourage and embolden, or simply nurture, her along the way. Her arc is to gain courage.

Each of these books influenced me and my early progressiveness, starting at age thirteen. The first four books terrified me about what our country, and the world could become. I’ve watched for those signs, and fought against them, for decades.

The last book, A Wrinkle In Time touched my fear and my heart. L’Engle inspired me in so many ways. A young, female protagonist saves her brother and father. Love is the only thing that could break the totalitarian spell.

Did my commitment to love make me less powerful to fight the totalitarianism darkness we see encroaching across the map today? Or is love all that gives me hope that we can stop this and reverse it in my lifetime? Probably both.

My optimism did make it almost impossible to believe the man who promised to “Be a dictator on day one” would actually win a second time. It took eight years to wrap my head around his winning the first time. Until living through our current dystopia, I believed in humanity’s inherent goodness. Now I know that goodness is inherent in only some of us, not all.

Seeing the evil happening now empowers me to remember all the lessons of the first four books, and therefore to resist. In every one of the books, resistance is a dominant theme.

And the only way to fight the goals of a dictator, along with love for all those being targeted, displaced, robbed of freedoms, and tortured, is to resist. Protest, vote, let Congress know we are unhappy and will fight for our freedoms.

And help those being targeted. Help each other resist. I’ve prepared for this nearly my entire life.

Today in our country, and other parts of the world, there is division. The division is between those of us who will fight for freedom, against those who take it away and those who willingly give it up. Don’t willingly give up what others have fought for. Read, learn, grow, and commit to equality, love, and freedom.

Now is the time.

Just in case I need bail, you can contribute to that fund here. https://ko-fi.com/carolsantafe

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This post was previously published on This America.

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